Don’t know what to do this weekend? How about reading some of LADETEC’s new articles?
The first is a collaboration between the Blood Molecular Biology and Proteomics Laboratory – LABMOPS and the Brazilian Doping Control Laboratory – LBCD. A review article on gene doping published in Bioanlysis with the title “Gene doping and genomic science in sports: where are we?”
Abstract
The misuse of sport-related gene transfer methods in elite athletes is a real and growing concern. The success of gene therapy in the treatment of hereditary diseases has been most evident since targets in gene therapy products can be used in healthy individuals to improve sports performance. Performing these practices threatens the sporting character of competitions and may pose potential health hazards.
Since the World Anti-Doping Agency pronouncement on the prohibition of such practices in 2003, several researchers have been trying to address the challenge of developing an effective method for the detection of genetic doping. This review presents an overview of the published methods developed for this purpose, the advantages and limitations of technologies and the putative target genes. At last, we present the perspective related to the application of the detection methods in the doping control field.
You can find the article by clicking here.
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Our second article is from the Proteomics Laboratory – LabProt, published in Science Signaling with the title “Molecular alterations in the extracellular matrix in the brains of newborns with congenital Zika syndrome” and aims to investigate the molecular bases of Congenital Zika Virus Syndrome.
Abstract
Zika virus (ZIKV) infection during pregnancy can cause a set of severe abnormalities in the fetus known as congenital Zika syndrome (CZS). Experiments with animal models and in vitro systems have substantially contributed to our understanding of the pathophysiology of ZIKV infection. Here, to investigate the molecular basis of CZS in humans, we used a systems biology approach to integrate transcriptomic, proteomic, and genomic data from the postmortem brains of neonates with CZS. We observed that collagens were greatly reduced in expression in CZS brains at both the RNA and protein levels and that neonates with CZS had several single-nucleotide polymorphisms in collagenencoding genes that are associated with osteogenesis imperfecta and arthrogryposis. These findings were validated by immunohistochemistry and comparative analysis of collagen abundance in ZIKV-infected and uninfected samples. In addition, we showed a ZIKV-dependent increase in the expression of cell adhesion factors that are essential for neurite outgrowth and axon guidance, findings that are consistent with the neuronal migration defects observed in CZS. Together, these findings provide insights into the underlying molecular alterations in the ZIKV-infected brain and reveal host genes associated with CZS susceptibility.
You can find the article by clicking here.
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And our last article of the day is from the Metabolomics Laboratory – LabMeta, which was published in the magazine Sustainable Energy & Fuels with the title “Catalytic sugarcane bagasse transformation into a proper biocrude for hydrocarbons production in typical refinery processes”. The work proposes a new process for reusing sugarcane bagasse, thus reducing waste.
Abstract
The conversion of biomass to green hydrocarbons offers great advantages to shorten our path to sustainability. Unfortunately, none of the existing approaches produces a biocrude that is compatible (in terms of density, viscosity, and reactivity) with current refinery processes. In this work, sugarcane bagasse was converted completely to a biocrude rich in O-isopropylidene acetals by an acetalization process using a continuous flow reactor. The hemicellulose is the first component that transformed to acetals followed by amorphous and crystalline cellulose. Hence, the composition of the biocrude to be collected under specific reaction conditions could be tuned in terms of type of carbohydrate (pentoses and hexoses) and their derivatives. The process was applied also at a larger scale (20-fold increase) to produce a stable biocrude with density ≈ 1.2 g.cm-3, viscosity 200 cp (60 °C) and specific heat (1.8 J g.°C-1) confirming its properties for conversion in typical refinery processes.
You can find the article by clicking here.